


A Ghost of A Chance

by MyCedarChest



Category: Iron Man (Comic), Iron Man (Movies)
Genre: F/M, Reincarnation, Romantic Soulmates, Soul Bond
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-07
Updated: 2015-11-07
Packaged: 2018-04-30 09:21:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 20,845
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5158517
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MyCedarChest/pseuds/MyCedarChest
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Things are not always as they seem sometimes, and sometimes seeing is believing.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Ghost of A Chance

**Author's Note:**

> Most of the characters in this story belong to Marvel Comics and whoever else has current legal ownership of Iron Man at the moment. No infringement on any corporate, business, or individual’s rights is intended in any way. This story is not being written for profit, just for enjoyment.
> 
> Set between The Avengers and Iron Man 3. And since Happy very rarely gets his own POV told in any fanfic story, I decided to do just that.

A Ghost of a Chance

Happy looked in the rear view mirror and smiled to himself. His two passengers were very much asleep, their heads touching in peaceful slumber as they leaned into each other. He was trying his best to drive carefully, avoiding as many bumps as he could so he wouldn’t wake the pair. Happy had gotten to bed relatively early last night knowing they were traveling two time zones east for a formal luncheon this morning. But he suspected his passengers had enjoyed another late date night together at the Malibu mansion as was their norm on Friday nights after work. Happy knew that this had been happening almost weekly since the Stark Expo and New York. And somehow it had been fitting that only disasters of epic proportions would finally force the two of them to get their personal acts together. Happy’s grandmother had always told him that ‘everything happens for a reason’ and Happy had always found there to be some amount of truth to that saying.

As he continued to drive, Happy remembered back a couple of months ago when Tony had invited Happy over to the Malibu mansion for pizza and a couple of beers and they had somehow ended up in a serious discussion about the institution of marriage. In all of the years Happy had known him Tony had never once mentioned the ‘M’ word in any sort of serious conversation. Happy of course at first had teased Tony unmercifully about him even entertaining the idea of getting married. But he soon realized that Tony was being very serious about finally becoming a monogamous male. Happy then finally confessed to Tony that he had known for years that eventually he and Pepper would wind up married to each other. Tony had acted somewhat surprised at Happy’s confession. Tony for all of his brilliance was just as dense as concrete sometimes. Still not letting an opportunity to tease Tony go by, he then told Tony that even though physics was not his strong suit, he knew that he and Pepper were going to eventually tie the knot because after all, ‘opposites did attract’. He remembered Tony actually smiling at that and then offering him another beer which he gladly accepted along with another large slice of pizza.

Since Pepper had promoted him to head of security many months ago, Happy had been so busy getting comfortable with and competent at his new job, that this trip was really the first opportunity he had to personally supervise security for Pepper. And being with her and Tony on the flight in from California today had made him realize just how much he had missed spending time with both of them. Although Happy had 2 brothers and 3 sisters of his own, he also considered Pepper and Tony as part of his immediate family. During the flight, Happy had actually managed to take a few power naps. But knowing Tony and Pepper….especially Pepper, the two of them no doubt spent most of the flight to San Antonio working.

Happy turned his focus back once again to driving their rental SUV. This car was specially designed for security and safety, equipped with bullet proof glass and reinforced steel plating. It had been brought to the San Antonio airport for them to use at Happy’s request. Their SUV was currently sandwiched between a van full of SI security men in front and a van full of SI security in back of them. Ever since the Expo, his former boss took no chances with the safety of SI’s CEO and as head of SI Security, Hap couldn’t agree more with Tony’s security priority.

Although this assignment was just another routine charity event, Happy couldn’t help but feel a little uneasy about this particular trip. So in order to offset the nagging sense of dread he felt, he had ordered extra SI security personnel to travel with them. Happy didn’t really watch a lot of TV, but he had gathered enough information over the internet, which had included watching the Ghost Hunters episodes dedicated to their overnight destination, to be more than just a little concerned. Happy had always prided himself on being brave and fearless which had always been the expectation of him since he was the oldest of 6 children, but ghost stories had always set him on edge ever since he had been a small child.

As they drove thru the downtown streets of Corpus Christi, the lead van suddenly swerved to the left to avoid colliding with a large truck that was backing out onto the street. Happy reacted instinctively and quickly swerved around the truck also.

“Ow!” Tony winced, rubbing the side of his head briskly “Your head hurts!”

Pepper was now rubbing her head as well “Well it does now, thanks to your hard head. What happened Happy?”

“Sorry about that. A truck pulled out in front of us and we had to make a quick move.” Happy explained as he looked at her in the rear view mirror. He knew they weren’t hurt and couldn’t help but tease them now “Besides I was going to have to wake you two lovebirds up in a few minutes anyway.’

“Pepper did you drool on me again?” Tony asked kiddingly and he noticed that Pepper couldn’t help herself from quickly looking at Tony’s suit, her eyes actually searching for any wet spots on his suit. Tony continued to watch her look him over and chuckled at her actions.

She heard him laugh and narrowed her eyes at him as she quickly turned to look out the window pretending indifference now. “I don’t drool, Tony.” She countered talking to the window instead of him. “But you do. I better not have your spit in my hair again.”

“Just consider it Stark Styling Gel, sweetheart.” Tony teased leaning over to wipe at her hair with one hand as she turned to glare at him, quickly pushing his hand away from her hair. Tony caught her hand and placed a tender kiss into her palm, his dark eyes now filled with mischief. 

She looked at her watch. “Happy” she said trying her best to ignore Tony who was still holding her hand. “What’s our ETA, because it looks like I am going to need a few extra minutes to freshen up thanks to Mr. Slobber Stark here?” She tilted her head to lock eyes with Tony, her blue eyes now hinting at a smile.

“Less than 5 minutes, boss.” Happy replied quickly catching Pepper’s eye in the rear view mirror.

Tony suddenly gave up teasing her and he released her hand. “I really didn’t drool on you, babe.” He said moving his hand up to brush her bangs back tenderly. ”You look gorgeous, as always. And we’re fine on time. Besides that, they can’t start without us anyway.”

Pepper then turned back to him and ran her right hand along the lapels of his jacket as if feeling for a wet spot. She then trailed her fingers along his goatee feeling him shiver under her touch “I don’t want to have to explain that we were late because you couldn’t keep your spit to yourself, Mr. Stark.”

“Let’s make this story really good, shall we?” Tony replied waggling his eyebrows at her suggestively “Let’s say that we were late because I couldn’t keep my hands to myself instead, Ms. Potts.”

“You do realize that the press is invited to this event, don’t you?” she teased back as he gently took her hand and pulled her slowly towards him. “How does this headline sound: Lexington Relief Project Delayed Because Stark Gropes Girlfriend?”

“I like it!” Tony replied as she leaned in to him and placed a quick kiss to the corner of his mouth.

The pair was entertaining as always and Happy chuckled under his breath. Happy then cut his eyes to the front of their SUV once more “Looks like we’re here.” Happy announced slowing their SUV as the lead van’s brake lights lit up.

Their convoy slowly pulled up and parked along the street in front of the massive ship. A long one lane ramp led from the street up to the public entrance to the ship. The ramp appeared to be designed for both pedestrian and vehicular traffic. Judging by their semi-formal clothing, some of the luncheon attendees were slowly walking up the long ramp and appeared to be battling a very strong headwind as they walked. 

Tony peered out of his window. “Glad we brought rolling suitcases.” 

Pepper leaned over bumping shoulders with Tony in order to have a look. “I am definitely going some extra time to freshen up after walking up that ramp. The wind must be blowing 30 miles an hour out there. My hair is going to be a mess.”

Happy immediately noticed a gentleman wearing a Lexington staff shirt walking towards their SUV as he got out of their vehicle and waited for the other SI security men to join him. Tony opened the passenger door and got out, turning to offer his hand to Pepper and gently pulling her out of the SUV.

“Ms. Potts, Mr. Stark.” The man called out as he approached them. 

“That would be us.” Tony replied turning away from Pepper to look at the man.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you both.” the man replied, reaching out to shake Pepper’s hand first. “I’m Daniel Westmoreland, the program director here at the Lady Lex. I would like to welcome you to Corpus Christi, Texas.”

Daniel reached out to shake Tony’s hand as Happy walked around the car to meet them.

“Thank you Daniel. This is Hap Hogan our security chief.” Pepper said motioning towards Happy. 

Happy briskly shook Daniel’s hand in greeting. “Good to meet you in person Mr. Westmoreland. Would it be possible for us to drive up to the ship? I really don’t want Ms. Potts or Mr. Stark to walk up that ramp. The distance and high visibility would be too much exposure for them from a security stand point.”

Pepper looked at Happy raising her eyebrows slightly. Happy just shrugged his shoulders in reply and motioned to the other SI security personnel who quickly returned to their vans. Tony smiled at Happy knowingly, glad that his paranoia and protectiveness of Pepper had rubbed off on him.

“We can do that, no problem.” Daniel answered as he pulled out his walkie-talkie. “Give me a few minutes to lock down the ramp and get the golf carts in service to take the rest of the attendees on board. The wind is picking up and it may be getting too much for some of our members to walk up that ramp anyway, so shutting down the ramp would also be to their benefit. Care of I ride shotgun, Mr. Hogan?” Daniel asked glancing over at their SUV

“Not at all Mr. Westmoreland.” Happy replied opening the door for Pepper and Tony as Daniel opened his door.

“Please call me Daniel. Since you all will be living aboard the Lady Lex tonight, you can park your vehicles at the top of the ramp just outside the ship’s entrance. This area will be more secure. We have cameras constantly monitoring this area.” Daniel explained as he pulled his door closed.

“Thank you Daniel.” Pepper replied as Happy looked at her in the rear view mirror. “We certainly appreciate your assistance.”

“We are going to need to post our security men around the ship.” Tony spoke up leaning forward towards Daniel as Happy started the SUV. “They will need to be up top, as well as at all of the entrances and exits.”

“I have Matt Lennox our security supervisor waiting for us when we board the Lady Lex so we can get your security requirements implemented ASAP.” Daniel replied. Daniel lifted his walkie-talkie up to his mouth and began to quietly speak into the device informing the Lexington staff that they were awaiting clearance to drive up to the ship.

After less than a minute, Daniel received the all clear signal for them to drive up the ramp. As their convoy then made their way slowly up the steep ramp, Happy could feel their SUV actually shake with the force of the wind until their SUV moved downwind of the massive ship and the wind immediately ceased. And as their SUV pulled into the shadow cast by the enormous ship, Happy couldn’t prevent a small shiver from creeping up his spine. It would seem that this assignment was already getting to him and they haven’t even made it inside the ship yet.

The vans parked on either side of the SUV in the parking area adjacent to the entrance to the ship providing a shield for the SUV’s passengers. Tony quickly opened his door and got out, turning to offer Pepper his hand as he helped her out of the car. He quickly pulled her into his side as both of them craned their necks looking up at the massive ship now looming over them. Happy knew that Tony and Pepper had done their research on the Lady Lex, but in seeing the ship with their own eyes it was apparent that they were quite impressed. Tony had told Happy during the flight that this ship had been riveted and welded together in only 13 months and that the entire ship was an amazing engineering feat even to Iron Man. Happy now joined them in looking up at the Lady Lex, taking in the ship’s complexity and sheer mass.

Happy remembered some of the other facts that Tony had shared with him during the flight. The Lady Lex was not battleship gray like other warships of the era. She was painted blue gray. This was due to a shortage of gray paint during 1943 at the Fore River Shipyard where she was built. This unique color eventually led to the Lady Lex being given the nick name “The Blue Ghost” during WW II by Tokyo Rose herself as the ship continued to participate in battles after the ship had been reported sunk so many times by the Japanese navy. No matter how much damage the Lady Lex suffered in battle she always managed to keep coming back from the dead time and time again, just like a ghost. Tony had arranged for two US Navy engineers to meet with them while they were on board to discuss the engineering requirements for the renovations to the Lady Lex and they was going to tour the ship where the SI sponsored repairs were to take place deep within the bowels of the ship. A tour that Happy was not especially looking forward to.

After exiting the SUV, Daniel had quickly walked through the entrance to the ship. As Happy walked up to join Tony and Pepper, he could see by the look on their faces that they were both happy and quite excited to be here now.

Happy however was not ‘happy’ to be here at all. Seeing the ship up close had managed to get him even more unnerved. He swore he could even feel goose bumps on the back of his neck now. Hopefully no one would notice them there. He quickly focused on his security duties, hoping to drive the feeling of anxiety from his mind as he turned and walked towards the entrance to the ship.

“Mr. Hogan, meet Matt Lennox.” Daniel called out to him as he and Matt approached them.

“Please call me Hap or Happy.” Happy said to both the men as they exchanged handshakes. “My dad is Mr. Hogan, not me. And thanks for helping set up security for us.”

“My pleasure.” Matt replied smiling. “If you wish, I can show you the ship’s profile elevations and schematics to help you pick out where you want your security guys placed. The Lady Lex is a big ship and it’s hard to get a real perspective on foot because of her size.”

“That would be great, thanks.” Hap replied with a sinking feeling as the sheer size of the ship was once again brought into sharp focus for him. And now standing in the shadow of the Lady Lex, Happy suddenly wished he had brought twice as many security personnel with them. 

As the other SI security men starting unloading the vans, Jonesey the team lead began barking out orders to them.

Matt then looked over at Tony and Pepper and stuck out his hand in greeting, obviously quite happy to see them. “Matt Lennox, Ms. Potts, Mr. Stark. I am very pleased to meet you both. We are all very excited about you being here with us on board the Lady Lex.”

Tony shook his hand as Matt’s smiled widened. He then reached out to shake Pepper’s hand.

“Thank you for helping us with security, Mr. Lennox.” Pepper politely replied.

“Please call me Matt.” Matt replied, smiling at Pepper as he continued to shake her hand and Pepper smiled back at him.

Happy frowned as Matt continued to hold onto Pepper’s hand. Since becoming romantically involved with Pepper, Tony was becoming more and more possessive of her as time passed. Now Tony had to really watch his behavior (self control still being quite new to him) around other men whenever Pepper was present. And at this moment, Happy knew that Tony’s self control was waning quickly. Happy knew without a doubt that Tony was about to punch Matt for the following reasons: a) being male, b) being handsome, c) being single (no wedding band in sight), and d) holding onto Pepper’s hand too damn long. But to Tony’s credit and Happy’s relief, Tony glanced quickly over at Pepper and seemed to tamp down his anger as he wrapped his right arm around her waist and pulled her gently into him and away from Matt. 

Pepper immediately released Matt’s hand turning to head to catch Tony’s eye with a look that spoke ‘behave yourself’ in fluent Pepperese.

Happy shook his head slightly at Tony when he looked up at him as he reinforced Pepper’s non-verbal request to cease and desist.

“Let’s get into my office and get your security plan in effect, shall we?” Daniel announced suddenly motioning the group into the entrance to the ship.

Happy was most grateful for the interruption in Tony’s jealousy cycle and he watched as Tony placed Pepper’s hand possessively in his as they walked inside the confines of the ship.

As they entered the ship, Happy was engulfed in the unique smell of the ship. The odor was one of a combination of stale air, gun powder, old electrical wiring which had been overheated way to many times in the past, fresh paint, and rust, all wrapped up in salt. He suddenly felt a strong feeling of déjà vu, knowing of course that he had never been on board this ship in his life. Pepper just happened to look back and caught the sudden tension in his face, her eyes immediately becoming concerned.

“What is it, Happy?” she whispered over to him as her eyes grew worried, his sudden tension becoming a concern for her.

“Nothing.” He replied quietly as Tony also looked questioningly over at him. He managed to give them a terse half smile. Pepper immediately narrowed her eyes at him, but accepted his reply without comment, but Happy knew without a doubt that she would revisit this moment later with him.

In Daniel’s office, Matt directed Happy over to a large table and he began unrolling engineering plans of the ship for them to review. After discussing several security plans, Happy decided upon his own plan. Happy called out instructions to his security team through his mic as Matt helped Happy station them at various points around the ship.

Daniel then motioned Pepper and Tony to another table and begin showing them the restoration plans for the Lady Lex. Daniel told them that he was going be in their meeting with the US Navy engineers later this afternoon too. Tony let Daniel know that he already had two of his best structural engineers working on the restoration design for this project. 

“Since the luncheon isn’t scheduled to begin for 30 minutes yet, we have time to get you settled into your bunks below deck.” Daniel said motioning for Tony and Pepper to join him as they left the office. Happy immediately followed them

Outside the office, Happy noticed the large area between fighter plane exhibits had been set up with several dozen round tables in front of a stage. There were two serving lines set up at each end of the area and the odor of bar-b-que now drifted over to them on the late morning sea breeze. Happy’s stomach involuntarily growled at the odor. It had been an early breakfast on the jet.

As they passed by the entrance to the ship Jonesey walked up carrying Pepper’s and Tony’s overnight bags and had Happy’s duffle bag slung over his left shoulder. Tony immediately took his rolling bag from him as Happy took Pepper’s rolling bag as well as his duffle.

Happy nodded his thanks to Jonesey and the man nodded his acceptance to him in return and then walked back out of the entrance to no doubt to secure their vehicles before the tour groups arrived.

Daniel stopped the group motioning to Pepper’s bag. “Pepper” Daniel began quietly “I’m afraid that your footwear is not safe for you to wear anywhere other than on this level of the ship. In order to get you settled in below deck, you will need to change shoes.”

Fortunately Pepper had been forewarned about the type of footwear required on board the ship and she had packed a pair of athletic shoes. Tony and Happy were already wearing shoes with safety soles. Tony quickly picked up Pepper’s suitcase and placed it on top of low concrete wall near the entrance of the ship making it easier for her to open. She unzipped the shoe compartment on her suitcase, fishing out a pair of neon pink running shoes. 

“Geez Pepper” Tony commented, pretending to shield his eyes from her shoes “Do those things glow in the dark too?”

Happy chuckled as he pulled over a chair for her, and she sat down, gracefully totally ignoring Tony’s comment while she changed her shoes, a small smile breaking out upon her face.

“As a matter of fact they do.” She replied looking up at him. “Are you jealous, Mr. Stark?”

Happy chuckled at Pepper’s comment drawing a confused look from both Daniel and Matt.

Tony took her high heels from her as she tied the running shoes on to her feet.

“God, you are such a girl!” Tony teased holding out his hand to help her up from the chair.

“I’m glad you noticed.” She teased repacking her high heels in her shoulder bag as she detached it from her suitcase. 

Tony smiled at her and took her suitcase down with one hand and rolled both his and her suitcases behind him as they followed Daniel to a hatch marked ‘Live Aboards Only’.

Tony looked down the ships ladder leading below deck. Matt quickly squeezed past him and began to lead the way down the ladder. Tony climbed down the ladder next carrying Pepper’s suitcase easily in one hand. Once he got to the bottom of the ladder, Happy dropped Tony’s suitcase down to him.

“Pepper” Tony called up to her, as she slung her shoulder bag over her head to secure it. “You’re next.” He quickly turned to glare at Matt in a silent warning. Matt recognized his very obvious territorial glare, and quickly backed away from the landing and the potential for viewing Pepper’s hidden ‘assets’. Tony stepped up onto the ladder and shadowed her decent in a protective move making sure that if she slipped he would be right there to catch her. But Happy knew by his body positioning that he was also marking his territory as off limits to Matt.

As the group emerged from the ladder landing through a hatchway, they came face to face with an open hatch with the sign “Head” to the side of it and “Women Only” above the hatch. 

“Ms. Potts” Daniel explained “Here is the ladies restroom for your berthing area. It has showers and dressing areas within it as well.” He then led them about 30 feet down a dimly lit hallway and opened a heavy metal door leading in a large cabin filled with twenty bunks and a set of lockers. “You will bunk in here Ms. Potts with the girls. Feel free to pick any bunk you like.”

Pepper looked around as Tony came up besides her holding her suitcase. 

“You want a bunk close to the door, babe?” Tony asked her quietly. She looked questioningly at him, and then turned to Daniel who smiled knowingly at her.

“The Lady Lex doesn’t have private quarters, just group bunking areas. The Hilton we are not.” Daniel explained. “I am going to bunk you all with teenaged guys and gals from a high school youth group who are veterans of the live aboard program here. They are a good group of kids with great chaperones and sponsors. They are always fun and they will show you the ropes aboard the Lady Lex. You can even join the ‘Fire Watch’ tonight with the seniors from the groups staying the night. That is, if you feel up to it. Any time that we have live aboards, local fire code mandates that we have the fire watch. But the job of fire watch is really just a reward for the teens since it will be their last trip aboard the Lady Lex before they graduate. The fire watch also gives them an excuse to stay up all night which is perfect for them. Of course we have some of our own crew stay up during the night with them to oversee the watch.”

“Fire watch sounds interesting.” Tony replied with a smirk as Pepper rolled her eyes at him.

“Are they going to be the only youth group staying on board tonight?” Pepper asked, taking her suitcase from Tony and placing it on a lower bunk next to the door.

“No.” Daniel replied squinting his eyes as if trying to remember who would be staying overnight tonight. “There are going to be two Cub Scout troops, three Girl Scout troops, and one Eagle Scout troop for a grand total of 121 live aboards including you and your security team. Kinda an average night on board the Lady Lex. The groups all come aboard after 15:00. And from 16:00 on until Taps at 22:00, each group is on a fairly tight schedule. You can just join in with the Westside group’s schedule if you want to.”

Daniel had already provided Happy with the lists of names of both adults and children who were to be on board today and Happy had run security checks on all the teenagers and adults. However without personal vetting which was impossible to get, there was a very real possibility of someone making it on board who could potentially pose a threat to Tony and Pepper. Tony looked over at him and shrugged his shoulders. And individual security screening aside, Happy was simply just not fond of crowds.

Happy sighed. Yes indeed this was going to be a long weekend. Some days he wished he hadn’t taken the promotion and just stayed a chauffeur/bodyguard, and today was definitely one of those days. He was already adjusting his plan to include two security guys down here watching over Pepper’s room during the night. He pulled out his two way radio and quietly called SI security to let them know about this change.

Daniel turned and led the group back down the hallway past the ladies head and opened another hatchway with a sign that read “Recreation” above it. They walked into a large compartment with pool, foosball, and ping pong tables in it, as well as chess, checkers, and card tables. Daniel walked over to a heavy metal door and opened it revealing another compartment filled with bunks.

“The guys from your group will bunk in this compartment, Mr. Stark.” Daniel said with a smile. “You can stow your gear in here. Just pick a bunk and toss your bag on it.” 

Tony smiled and took his bag from Happy, picking the bunk closest to the door and tossing his suitcase on it. Happy tossed his shoulder bag on the bunk next to Tony’s. They moved through the compartment and out another hatch and came to another open hatch with a sign next to it reading “HEAD” and a smaller one above it with “Men Only” printed on it.

“The guy’s restroom. Showers and dressing areas just like the ladies’.” Daniel stated as he quickly turned and moved back through the compartment and through the hatch leading into the game room. They exited the game room through the same hatch that they had entered the game room through.

Tony definitely didn’t like the idea of sleeping so far from Pepper. He looked knowingly at Happy who immediately raised his eyebrows back at him. 

“Hap” he quietly said as he reached out with one hand and held Happy back in the game room as the others continued walking. “Let’s post some of your guys outside Pepper’s door tonight.”

“Already done.” Happy replied as they walked through the hatch. Tony grunted at him in appreciation.

They moved toward the ladder which would take them up to the main deck again. Tony quickly cut his eyes at Matt who wasted no time in going up the ladder. Within a minute Daniel and Happy had followed Matt up. 

“You want me to carry your bag?” Tony asked motioning her to go ahead of him.

“Thanks for the offer” Pepper started, slinging the bag quickly over her head and shoulder. She smiled coyly at him as she leaned over to give him a quick kiss on the corner of his mouth. “I got this.”

Happy watched knowing just how independent Pepper was. As she made her way up the ladder, Tony followed four steps below her as she climbed: close enough to catch her if she fell, but far enough away Happy noticed to be appreciative of the sight of her long legs disappearing up into her dress. Happy intended to have a talk with Tony later about his ‘positioning’ around Pepper as she climbed the ships ladders.

They passed by the main entrance and the office as they made their way towards the stage area, Happy took a deep breath and his mouth involuntarily started to water. Pepper looked over at him and smiled knowing just how much Happy liked good bar-b-que. 

“Happy” she started “Daniel has arranged to provide SI security with meals starting with lunch today.”

Happy’s eyes immediately lit up “Thanks, Daniel” he replied looking over at Pepper again “It sure smells good.”

“The caterer is a local restaurant and they cook some of the best bar-b-que around.” Daniel replied proudly. “Their ribs are the best I’ve ever eaten.”

Happy absolutely loved ribs. Suddenly his day was looking just a little bit brighter.

“Are you going to wear those hot shoes to the banquet?” Tony asked as he and Pepper continued to walk towards the banquet area. 

Pepper came to a sudden stop. “These shoes are so comfortable I forgot I had them on.” She replied immediately reaching into her shoulder bag for her heels. 

Tony wrapped his arm around her waist to steady her while she quickly changed shoes. After she finished changing shoes he continued to hold onto her waist. He then took the bag from her and slung it over his opposite shoulder as they walked towards the banquet area. Daniel was walking ahead of Tony and Pepper now as Happy followed Tony and Pepper into the hall. Tony slowly released her waist and then reached out to entwine the fingers of her right hand within his left hand.

As they walked into the area where the tables were set up Happy noticed that most of the tables were already filled. As they walked down the aisle, the seated people nodded and smiled at them. Pepper smiled and nodded back politely. And of course Tony, as usual, did his best to ignore everyone except Pepper. Happy looked down between them and noticed that Tony’s fingers had actually tightened around hers as he looked around no doubt looking for SI Security. Yes indeed Tony was definitely paranoid about Pepper’s safety in crowds. And after what the two of them had been through together, Happy couldn’t blame him one bit.

SI Security had already run checks on everyone in the audience for today as well as all the volunteer crew, paid staff, and food service contractors for the USS Lexington and Matt had personally verified IDs for everyone attending the lunch as an extra security measure.

Daniel motioned for them to be seated at a round table next to the stage. The four gentlemen and two women already seated at the table all rose in greeting as Tony and Pepper approached. Daniel politely introduced Pepper and Tony to the group. Happy was already aware that this group was the Board of Directors from the USS Lexington Museum which was the not-for-profit organization that oversaw the museum and maintained the USS Lexington. They each took turns shaking Tony and Pepper’s hands. Three of the gentlemen appeared to be of the age of WWII veterans. They all sat down after their introductions. Tony politely pulled out Pepper’s chair for her and then sat down in the chair next to hers taking care to position his chair close enough to Pepper so that Happy noticed that their knees actually touched.

Happy then moved into position by the stage where he could see everything around Tony and Pepper. The ‘press’ consisted only of three local TV station news teams. Obviously keeping Stark Industries name out of the official press invitations had drastically cut down on the amount of press coverage. And Happy was very glad that he didn’t have to bust heads with the paparazzi this morning on top of everything else. He had more than enough headaches just providing personal security for Pepper and Tony on board the huge ship. He did notice the reporters talking excitedly to each other after Tony and Pepper sat down at their table. But Happy knew that the ship was now on lockdown and that no one else was going to get on board or off until after the luncheon was over, so these reporters wouldn’t be able to call for any reinforcements. His stomach rumbled loudly as the sea breeze making its way through the open sides of the ship pushed the smell of bar-b-que towards him. He was now hoping that all the speeches were kept short so they could get on with lunch.

One of the elderly gentlemen from Tony and Pepper’s table rose and slowly walked up the steps to the stage and over to the podium. 

“Welcome everyone.” He said slowly smiling at everyone. “For those of you who don’t know me, I am John Hopkins, President of the USS Lexington Museum Association. It is been my distinct pleasure and honor to hold this position for the last four years. Those of you who know me know that I don’t like to beat around the bush especially when a great lunch is waiting for us. So it is my intention to make the ‘ceremony’ part of this luncheon as short as possible without being disrespectful to our special guests.” Many in the audience laughed at his candid but honest remark. ”We are delighted today to welcome a new corporate sponsor on board the Lady Lex. This new sponsor has made it possible for us to fund badly needed structural renovations and repairs to this ship that are lifesaving for the hull superstructure supports. These repairs are not glamorous and certainly don’t get the press they deserve, but they are absolutely necessary for the continued structural integrity of the hull of the Lady Lex. The CEO and CTO here today representing Stark Industries have also made personal donations which will make it possible to fund 20 additional exhibits and open up yet another level on board for visitors. So it is with great gratitude and pride that I ask you to welcome aboard our Lady Lex Pepper and Tony Stark of Stark Industries!”

With that intro the crowd erupted into applause and cheers. A few shouts of “Iron Man” could be heard sprinkled within the crowd.

Happy had been half listening to Mr. Hopkins’ introduction, the other half of his attention tuned of course to his security communication ear bud. However, he did manage to hear the tail end of the introduction and chuckled to himself at the wording. Happy couldn’t wait for Pepper’s reaction. He did his best not to crack a smile as he watched Tony help Pepper out of her chair and then take her hand in his as they walked to the stage and up the steps to approach Mr. Hopkins at the podium. Happy could see that Pepper was already beginning to blush because of her newly bestowed last name and Tony’s face wore a smile from ear to ear. They both shook John’s hand and then John leaned over to kiss Pepper’s cheek politely.

John suddenly stepped back to the podium once again. “Ooops!” he began “It seems that I may have jumped the gun a little bit on the introductions here folks.” He continued glancing over at Pepper and smiling warmly at her. “What I meant to say is please welcome aboard Pepper Potts and Tony Stark of Stark Industries.” And with that said, he stepped back and gallantly motioned the two of them towards the podium and mic.

The crowd again applauded loudly. Whistles now could be heard loudly throughout the crowd.

Pepper and Tony quickly exchanged looks as they stepped up to the mic side by side. Tony still had her right hand encased within his left hand.

The crowd grew quiet as Tony leaned in towards the mic “Normally Ms. Potts would speak first, but I just wanted to jump in here quickly and thank Mr. Hopkins for doing something in 6 seconds that I have been trying to do for the past 6 months.” He began, turning to look at Pepper who actually began to openly blush now. “And that is to persuade Ms. Potts here to change her last name to Stark.”

And with that the crowd slowly got to their feet and began applauding and whistling, understanding immediately what Tony not so subtlety was hinting at. Pepper quickly locked eyes with Tony who was still smiling broadly at her as the crowd continued their very vocal approval of Tony’s impromptu marriage proposal. After a few seconds she let go of Tony’s hand and raised her hand as a plea for quiet from the audience. The crowd slowly grew quiet as they sat back down in their chairs.

A slight blush still on her face, Pepper began to speak. “Thank you for both of the introductions, Mr. Hopkins.” She began, turning and smiling at John who returned the smile. “Oh, and nice try Tony.” She said quickly turning to look at Tony who quickly flashed her another brilliant smile. Laughter quickly filtered through the audience at her obvious teasing of Tony. 

Like Tony, Pepper had a photographic memory so speeches were always a breeze for her. Tony’s marriage proposal of sorts seemed to have caught her off guard, but she took a single deep breath and was immediately back on track. “My thanks go to the Board Members of the USS Lexington Museum and its members for giving Stark Industries this opportunity to help preserve a very important piece of American engineering, ingenuity, courage, and sacrifice which has made a lasting impact on both American and world history. Stark Industries has always been proud to support living American history and it is honored to now serve the Lady Lex as a corporate sponsor. On a personal level, my Grandfather Eddie trained aboard the USS Lexington as a US Marine aviator during the Vietnam War. He has always spoken very highly of this ship and her crew and of his time spent on board the Lady Lex. My personal donation to the Lady Lex is to honor both the Lady Lex and my Grandfather, Eddie. Thank you.” And with that said she moved slightly to the side of the podium so Tony could speak into the mic as the audience applauded Pepper’s words enthusiastically. 

As the audience continued with their applause, Tony took Pepper’s hand in his again and pulled her close to him as he shifted to stand behind the mic. They had been dating for six months now, but had managed (at Pepper’s insistence of course) to keep their romantic relationship out of the public eye. And after much debate along with fussing and cussing of course, they had both agreed that this particular charity event would be their ‘coming out’ public appearance as a couple. And it was quite apparent to Happy and everyone else in the area that Tony was determined to make sure that no one would doubt their new existence as a couple. As the applause quickly subsided as he began to speak. “The Lady Lex and her crew throughout the years have always embodied the spirit of resolve to triumph over adversity, and their ‘never surrender, never give up’ mantra has been an inspiration to many and a source of pride for all Americans. The Lady Lex is truly an amazing feat of engineering and technology, and a shining example of American manufacturing prowess. Stark Industries is proud to sponsor the hull renovations for the Lady Lex. We will also provide structural engineering support for this project at no cost.” Tony paused briefly as scattered applause moved across the audience and he quickly glanced at Pepper smiling at her as she smiled back at him. “My father, Howard Stark had provided engineering services to the US military during WWII. While deployed in the Pacific Theater, his plane had been damaged by an encounter with enemy aircraft. The Lady Lex was close enough to heed his distress call and had altered her course in order to intercept him. He had managed to land his aircraft, albeit ungracefully, on the wooden flight deck of the Lady Lex less than a minute from hitting the water. During my youth, my father told me numerous stories of how the Lady Lex crew took care of both him and his aircraft and had him back in the air amazingly in only two days. There was no doubt in his mind that the Lady Lex and her crew saved not only his life but his mission as well. My personal donation to the Lady Lex today is to honor both the Lady Lex and crew as well as my father, Howard Stark. Thank you.” As the audience began to applaud loudly, Pepper leaned over to plant a small but quite significant kiss onto Tony’s cheek. Tony immediately locked eyes with her the obvious love they had for each other apparent to everyone in the room now.

“About damn time.” Happy muttered under his breath.

Tony then gently pulled on her hand as he led her over to one side as John stepped back up to the podium.

“Our thanks again to both of you for Stark Industries corporate as well as your personal support of our Lady Lex.” He remarked with a huge smile as the applause began to die back down. “And FYI, we do provide facilities on board to host weddings, just in case you you’re interested.” John teased as he turned to look pointedly at Tony and Pepper. Cheers and whistles rose out of the audience once again as John smiled broadly at Tony and Pepper who then smiled back at him. John turned back to the podium and waved one hand in the air in order to restore order again. “Now then, everyone get up and make your way over to the buffet lines set up at each end of the area. We will split the tables down the center aisle here, so those of you on this side of the aisle will make your way to that line and those of you on this side will make your way to that line.” John instructed gesturing with his arms and hands in support of his spoken instructions. 

John turned away from the podium as the audience rose from their seats noisily. He quickly reached out and motioned to Pepper and Tony. “Sorry about the last name screw up Ms. Potts.” John began with a twinkle in his eyes. “But you two do make a handsome couple.”

“That’s OK, Mr. Hopkins.” Pepper replied with a soft smile “It’s not the first time that’s happened to us. I’m sure that Tony is just glad you didn’t introduce us as ‘Pepper and Tony Potts’.”

Tony firmly pulled Pepper close and wrapped one arm around her waist. “If all it takes is for me to change my last name in order for you to agree to marry me, then Tony Potts it is.”

John smiled at Pepper as she rolled her eyes at Tony and he chuckled good naturedly at them both. “Well I’m just glad to hear that I wasn’t the first one to mistake the two of you for a married couple. And please, call me John.” John said as they slowly started down the three steps leading from the stage, Pepper taking John’s arm in a friendly, as well as a stabilizing gesture as they continued their descent.

The TV crews had started to break down their equipment having already been informed by the Daniel that no interviews would be given. But the reporters and their crews were allowed to stay and eat lunch. Corpus Christi was a relatively small city and Daniel knew the reporters and their crews personally. Happy knew from past experience that good food had always been an easy way to get good press. And of course leaving here with the scoop on the ‘romance’ between Pepper and Tony would no doubt get their video more air time with their respective networks.

The bar-b-que was delicious. Tony even asked one of the owners of the family owned restaurant who was supervising the luncheon if they would deliver to Malibu and she agreed, but only with the stipulation that Tony would provide three weeks advance notice. Tony agreed to the terms wholeheartedly. Some of her employees had already volunteered, quite vocally in fact, to go along with her to help with the delivery to Malibu, much to the owner’s amusement.

Happy had been near the serving line sipping his sweet tea as Tony and the owner had spoken. Happy had to agree with Daniel: the ribs were the best he had ever eaten. And after eating ten ribs, Happy now felt very qualified to make that assessment. He was now starting to relax just a little. But then again a full stomach had always settled his nerves.

After the luncheon as well as after shaking lots of hands and posing for scores of cell phone photos, Pepper and Tony were finally able to walk back to their overnight quarters, Happy and one SI Security man in tow.

Happy and Tony changed in their quarters. The SI security guard stood watch outside the door of Pepper’s quarters as she changed, but only after he had thoroughly searched the room before allowing her inside as per Happy’s orders. 

After changing clothes they once again made their way to the main deck as a prelude to their meeting. Happy was definitely not looking forward to crawling into the dark and dank lower decks of the Lady Lex. Tony on the other hand had always been the type of person who threw himself into projects and never minded getting into whatever environment he needed to in order to perform his engineering design work. So of course this wouldn’t be the first time in his 17 years of being Tony’s bodyguard that Hap found himself in an uncomfortable position as he followed along with Tony on a work related adventure.

Right after the luncheon Hap had practically begged Pepper not to go with Tony on their below deck visit. He wanted her to stay on the upper decks and had cited numerous safety concerns to her in his attempt to dissuade from going on the tour with Tony. But Happy had known that Pepper’s heart was in the Lady Lex’s restoration project too, and that she was very determined to go with the group. Hap also knew for a fact that Pepper was every bit as stubborn as Tony when it came to getting her way. And Pepper was as equally fearless as Tony when it came to putting herself into situations that could possibly be dangerous when it was needed or necessary. The only thing that Happy knew for sure that really frightened Pepper Potts was the possibility of her missing out on a sale of Louboutins, Happy thought wryly to himself. So Happy knew that his only options with regard to this below deck meeting were to lead, follow, or get out of the way. And of course he chose to follow as always.

They met up with the two Navy engineers in Daniel’s office around 1:00 PM or as Happy corrected in his mind 13:00 hours. Two of the Lady Lex maintenance personnel were also going with them on the tour. Daniel handed out hard hats with lights, similar to the type of hat miners wore as well as flashlights with wrist straps to everyone. So with the number of people for the tour firmly at 8, the group started down into the lower levels of the ship on the Tour 3 designated route.

Once past the end of the tour route, Daniel unlocked a door, and the group quickly found themselves in a dimly lit hallway. “From here on out, turn on your headlamps and watch your heads and more importantly watch where you step.” Daniel cautioned. “We are now in a work zone, and as you can tell, lighting in this area is a bit dim. Just follow me. We are going to be going down six more levels and so you will be climbing a lot of ships ladders, so just remember to keep 3 points of contact at all times when you are climbing.”

Happy had never been claustrophobic, however he was warming up to the idea more and more as they descended ladders and passed through hatch openings so small that he could just barely squeeze through them. He quickly realized that American men in the 1940’s had been built much smaller than he was. And to add insult to injury, one of his old boxing injuries was starting to flare up and he found himself limping slightly as his left knee began to hurt. 

Happy could hear Tony’s voice up ahead asking one of the Naval engineers a technical question. And he could also now make out Daniel’s voice in the distance. Hap suddenly realized just how far away those voices were in the semi-darkness that now engulfed him. He knew that his knee was now preventing him from keeping up with the group and he had somehow managed to fall way behind. Hap made sure that Daniel, Pepper, Tony and himself had SI walkie-talkies before they started the tour, just in case they got separated below deck, and he was now very glad he had insisted on the walkie-talkies. Hap looked around nervously in the shadows of his helmet light as he came to an intersection in the corridors. He paused momentarily and after a few seconds, he was very relieved to see one headlight moving back down the corridor towards him.

“Happy” Pepper called out to him. “I don’t know who’s more excited about getting deeper and deeper into this ship, Tony or Daniel. All I know is that I am having a hard time keeping up with them, and I bet your knee is giving you fits about now with all the ladder climbing we’ve been doing.” 

Hap gave her a small smile. She knew him so well. As Pepper’s voice died into the silence now around them, they both realized that they no longer heard voices in the distance. It appeared that they both had been left behind by the rest of the group. And in the confusion of near darkness, neither one of them now knew which direction their group had traveled. 

“Knowing Tony” Pepper began “It will take him at least five minutes to realize that the two of us are missing. So we might as well take a rest break.”

Happy knew that she was concerned about his knee. “I’m OK, Pepper” he replied  
“It’s just that in the dark all of these corridors look the same and I don’t want us to get off course here.”

Pepper shined her flashlight down one of the corridors and spotted what appeared to be a metal box about 20 feet away next to a wall. “Why don’t you just sit on that while we wait on Tony to come back?” as she pointed her flashlight beam now at the box.

Happy nodded slightly, actually starting to agree that he did need to rest his knee for a few minutes. “OK” He replied as he slowly walked down the corridor towards the box. Focused on the box he didn’t pay close attention to where he was walking and he suddenly heard a loud metallic groan quickly followed by the feeling of sliding down on the metal floor plate which had suddenly given way under his weight. 

Pepper had been about six feet behind him when she saw him start to slide. She couldn’t move fast enough to try to catch him though even though she knew that she would never be able to hold his weight, but that she would try anyway. “Happy!” she cried out walking carefully up to the edge of the metal plating that remained intact on the floor. She shined her flashlight down into the newly formed hole. She could now see Happy sitting on the floor below her. “Are you hurt?!”

Happy finally opened his eyes and looked up towards squinting at Pepper as her flashlight temporarily blinded him “No, I’m not hurt….just kinda surprised.”

Pepper let out a breath of relief she didn’t realize she was holding. “I’m calling Tony.” she told him as she moved the beam of her flashlight so it wasn’t shining directly in Happy’s eyes anymore, and walked a few feet away to use her walkie-talkie to summon help. 

Happy could now hear Tony’s frantic voice on the walkie-talkie telling her to stay put and that they were on their way back for them.

Happy turned his head to look around for his helmet using his wrist flashlight that surprisingly had not been damaged in the fall. He quickly realized that his walkie-talkie and helmet had not been so lucky. As he slowly took a look around him he noticed in the darkness that he was now in what he believed was a fairly large room. Suddenly a beam from a large flashlight began slowly moving towards him. ‘Wow, that was fast!’ he thought to himself as he began to make out the shape of the person holding the flashlight as the light came steadily closer.

“Hey buddy!” the voice behind the flashlight called out to him. “Looks like you could use a hand.”

Happy smiled knowing that whoever was coming to help him would need more than one hand to help get him to his feet. 

“I sure could.” Happy replied as his eyes tried to make out the man behind the old fashioned lantern-like flashlight. “Looks like I was a little too much for the floor up there” he said pointing his flashlight towards the gaping hole in the ceiling. 

“Happy” Pepper called down to him, hearing the stranger’s voice “who is that?”

“The name’s MacKenzie.” the man answered looking up at Pepper at first, and then looking down at Happy. “But my friends call me ‘Mac’.”

Happy managed to pull himself up to stand without any trouble, amazed that even his sore knee didn’t seem to protest much at the movement or his weight. He guessed that the short ‘rest’ of sorts did his knee some good after all. “Thanks for coming to help, Mac.” Happy replied with a small grin “There’s no way I would have found my way out of here by myself.”

“No sweat, pal.” Mac said shining his flashlight towards a hatch at the other side of the room “’Help’ is my middle name.”

“Pepper” Happy called out to her as she shined her light down at him “Mac’s going to help me find my back to Daniel’s office.” Happy could now hear Tony’s voice getting steadily louder in the background behind Pepper. “Just please reconsider going on with the group for the rest of the meeting. It’s just too dangerous for you down here.”

“OK Happy.” Pepper conceded with a small frown “Looks like you are going to need someone make sure you take care of that knee of yours anyway. I’ll meet you in Daniel’s office. I know he has a first aid kit I can borrow.”

“Ready to roll there, buddy?” Mac asked.

“Sure thing, Mac” Happy replied bending down to pick up his helmet “Lead the way.”

As Happy and Mac walked slowly towards the hatch Mac chuckled “That’s a beaut of a dame you got there, pal. I should be so lucky.”

Happy smiled in the darkness at Mac’s old fashioned words he used in describing Pepper. “She’s a good friend and my boss, actually. But you’re right; she is a beaut of a dame too.”

Mac continued to lead the way quickly moving down corridors, hatches, and up ships ladders. Happy surprised himself by keeping up with Mac who almost appeared to float as he covered distances so quickly. Happy could tell that Mac had many years experience navigating the Lady Lex.

“You’re a big one.” Mac commented as they made their way through one of the smaller hatches. “You must be a Leatherneck. You’re too big to be a member of our Canoe Club.”

Happy shot a quick glance towards Mac and he could have sworn that for a split second, Mac seemed to almost shimmer. Happy just chalked up the effect to his flashlight’s afterimage.

“Nope” Happy replied knowing the term ‘leatherneck’ and assuming the ‘canoe club’ was slang for the US Navy. “I was never in the military. I was a boxer, and a bouncer, and then got hired on as a body guard for Stark Industries about 17 years ago.”

Mac chuckled. “I guess you’re not as light on your feet anymore there pal, or that steel plate would have held you.”

“You’re right about that.” Happy said with a small smile. 

Mac opened a hatch for him and pointed ahead to another open hatch. “Just make your dainty way through that hatch and take a right and that will put you back on the main deck.” 

Happy walked through the hatch and turned to look behind him wanting to thank Mac for his help. To his surprise when he turned around Mac was no longer within sight. “Mac?” he called out in the darkness “Where’d you go” Thinking Mac had just turned and went through another hatch Happy called after him. “Thanks Mac. I owe you one.”

“No problem, pal.” Mac’s voice could be heard faintly in the darkness as he replied back to Happy.

Happy grinned as he turned around and headed for the hatch which would lead him to the main deck and daylight. 

As Happy walked onto the main deck, he realized that he must have beaten Tony and Pepper back up when he found the deck deserted. He walked into Daniel’s office and sat down in one of the chairs and waited. Within minutes he could hear Pepper’s voice still fussing at Tony for leaving both of them behind. Happy smiled. He loved it when Pepper gave Tony hell. And the funny thing was that he knew for a fact that Tony loved it too. 

Within a few seconds, Pepper flung open the door to Daniel’s office and immediately approached him, her eyes wide with worry. “How are you doing Happy?” she said as she quickly kneeled down in front of him. “Did you hurt anything other than your knee?” She turned to Daniel “Daniel, I will need to borrow your First Aid Kit.”

“I’m fine, Pepper” Happy replied back to her hoping to calm her down a little “Really I am.” 

“I saw that hole Hogan” Tony interjected moving to kneel next to Pepper “You are not all right.”

“Actually I am alright.” Happy replied. He was almost embarrassed at all the attention. After all he was the body guard here. “I got lucky when the floor gave way and I managed to slide down what was left of the steel plate. My knee’s a little sore, that’s all.”

“Daniel, can I get a bag of ice, please?” Pepper asked Daniel politely. 

“Of course.” Daniel replied looking at one of his men who immediately left his office apparently on an ice run.

“Where is the man that helped you Happy?” Pepper asked looking around the room. “His name was Mac, right?”

“I don’t know.” Happy replied “His name was MacKenzie. Not sure if that was a first or last name. But he sure helped me out, no doubt about that.”

Happy looked at Daniel who in turn looked at his maintenance man and suddenly a look of knowing flashed between the two men. Happy assumed that Mac was another one of the Lexington volunteers even though he couldn’t remember anyone with the last name of MacKenzie being on the personnel list. His knee began to throb harder now quickly making Happy shift his attention back to himself.

The office door suddenly flew open as Daniel’s employee hurried back into Daniel’s office carrying a bag of ice which he quickly handed to Pepper.

“Thanks” Pepper responded as she held up the bag in front of Happy. “Left knee?” She questioned as Happy nodded and she immediately placed the bag of ice on his knee. “Straighten that leg up for me will you?”

Happy immediately straighten his leg as Tony pulled out an unused chair for him to rest his foot on. Pepper had been nursing him and Tony for over 12 years and she knew exactly what to do for his knee. Ten minutes of ice every twenty minutes and his knee would be good to go in an hour. Happy glanced at Tony and he was amused to see that Tony’s face had the look of a man scorned on it.

“Sorry about leaving you behind.” Tony said quietly and Happy knew that he was only partially addressing him. He knew that Tony lived in fear of Pepper getting hurt because of either he or Iron Man doing something stupid or reckless. He moved up behind Pepper and laid one hand on her shoulder gently seeking forgiveness. “Why don’t you just stay up here with Hap and I’ll go back and finish the walkthrough. I promise to give you all the details along with pictures and video too. Anything to keep you up here.” Then he added quietly “Please, Pep.”

Happy saw Pepper’s face sag in defeat at the word ‘please’. Tony so rarely used that ‘magic’ word, and then usually only with Pepper. 

“OK, Tony.” She agreed quietly leaning her head and pulling her shoulder up at the same time so that she gently squeezed his hand in reply as both her hands remained on Happy’s ice pack. “I’ll stay here with Happy. But I do intend to check out the ship’s store while I wait for you.”

“I’m just glad the ship’s store doesn’t sell shoes or I have a feeling that both my credit card and I would be in trouble.” Tony replied leaning down to kiss her quickly on the top of her head.

“Yes, you would be.” Pepper replied with a grin turning her head to look up at him as he pulled back from her and looked down at her with the soft smile that he reserved only for her.

“Shall we head back down?” Daniel asked Tony who nodded in reply.

“Let’s go.” Tony said as he led the way out of Daniel’s office.

Pepper had persuaded Happy to join her on her trip to the ship’s store after they had iced his knee on and off for a little over an hour. Happy was pleased that his knee no longer hurt as he walked Pepper towards the gift shop. Daniel had made sure that Dorothy, one of the former board members who had helped to design the store and now the Lady Lex marketing director, was on hand to open up the store for her and Happy since the store was not set to open today until the youth groups arrived.

“Pleased to meet you both.” Dorothy replied to Happy and Pepper after they introduced themselves. “We have the usual assortment of T Shirts and caps. But we also have some interesting history books as well.”

Pepper walked over to the ladies T shirts and held one up to Dorothy “Dorothy, what is this T shirt all about?”

“That one is one of a series of T shirts that the Rosie the Riveter Trust makes and sells to support their museum. Rosie the Riveter is the cover girl of sorts for women who worked in the shipyards and aircraft manufacturing plants for the US military during World War 2. The Rosies built the Lady Lex in only 13 months.” She explained patiently “The Rosies were amazing, dedicated, and hard working women. I love their slogan ‘We Can Do It’.”

Pepper smiled warmly at Dorothy. “I love it too.” Pepper proceeded to look through the rack of ladies t-shirts and he quickly picked out two of the Rosie the Riveter t shirts in her size, one pink and one blue. 

Happy found a baseball cap that he liked which had the official US Navy seal for the USS Lexington CV 16 on it. Pepper also picked up a book on aircraft carriers in World War 2 that she knew Tony didn’t own already. As Pepper and Happy approached Dorothy standing behind the counter, Dorothy held her hand up when Pepper reached in her pocket to pull out a credit card.

“Those are on the house.” Dorothy announced firmly “It’s the least we can do for you after all of your generous donations.”

Pepper was not at all convinced “No, I insist.” Pepper replied with equal firmness “I know how not-for-profits operate. Our donations will not help pay the bills for your store merchandise.”

Dorothy studied Pepper’s face for a moment and Happy thought she actually looked like she was entertaining the thought of arguing with Pepper, but the determination in Pepper’s eyes foretold a no-win situation.

Dorothy then chuckled softly, her face crinkling with age and humor as she gave in to Pepper’s wishes. “Square deal then: dinner and breakfast is on the Lady Lex.”

Pepper smiled as she handed Dorothy her personal credit card. “Fair enough.”

Pepper took the cap out of Happy’s hand and placed it on the counter. “This too.”  
She said as Happy attempted to take it back from her.

“Hey, Pep” Happy protested “I’m paying for that.”

Pepper blocked his hand “Don’t argue with your boss.” She instructed smiling sweetly at him. 

Happy shrugged at her as she took the hat off the counter, pulled the tag off of it, and then placed it on his head. “You look official now.”

Happy grinned back at her. “I feel official now too. Thanks, Pepper.”

Tony walked swiftly into the gift shop after their meeting ended in Daniel’s office and they bid farewell to the Navy engineers. Happy noticed that Tony was furiously typing into his cell phone as he walked, no doubt emailing the specs for the hull restoration to his SI engineers in California. Pepper then stepped in front of Happy blocking his view of Tony as she adjusted the baseball cap on Happy’s head.

“Nice hat Hogan.” Tony noted moving to stand next to Pepper as he wrapped his left arm around her shoulders and squeezed gently.

“It was either this cap or a pink Rosie the Riveter shirt and thank goodness they didn’t have any pink shirts in my size.” Happy explained as Tony eyed him warily and Pepper chuckled.

“Good thing too.” Pepper laughed quietly “Pink is definitely not your color…it clashes too much with your eye color.”

Pepper twisted teasingly out of Tony’s grasp and walked over to the Baseball Cap display where she pulled out a cap exactly like the one Happy had on. She then walked back over to Tony as she adjusted the band on the hat innately knowing his hat size, pulled the tag off of it, and then placed the hat firmly on his head. She then reached out with her fingers and tucked the stray hair on the sides of his head back behind his ears tenderly. “Looking good there, Mr. Stark.”

Pepper then turned towards Dorothy who was still standing behind the counter. “Tony, this is Dorothy, the marketing director of the Lady Lex museum.” Pepper said and Tony smiled at Dorothy as he walked over to shake her hand in greeting. “Dorothy, please add another hat to my total.”

“So good to meet you, Mr. Stark.” Dorothy replied smiling broadly at Tony as she added another baseball cap to Pepper’s tab.

“Pleasure to meet you too. Please call me Tony, Dorothy.” Tony said flashing one of his patented ‘God’s Gift to Women’ smile at her.

Tony stepped back from the counter as Pepper stepped up so she could sign the credit card receipt. He then reached on top of the counter to take Pepper’s shopping bag so he could carry it for her. With his free hand he reached out to thread his fingers through the fingers of her free hand and he gave her hand a tender squeeze. “Thanks for the hat, babe.” He whispered in her left ear as he leaned over to her.

“You are most welcome, Tony.” Pepper whispered back as she tenderly squeezed his hand back. Then she looked over at Happy and smiled. “Would you look at that? Now you and Happy are Twinkies!”

Happy chuckled at them both and Tony narrowed his eyes at him in a silent warning. “Iron Man does not do Twinkies.” Tony huffed disgustedly as Pepper and Dorothy began to laugh with Happy.

Daniel walked through one of the doors into the Ship’s Store along with another older gentleman and they quickly approached them. “I just wanted to get you all together before the students come on board. Tom Hardin meet Pepper Potts, Tony Stark, and Hap Hogan.” As the four of them shook hands as Daniel continued. “Tom is a teacher with Westside High School and he is the head sponsor of their youth group which is the group that you three will be joining for the weekend. Tom here is an 8 year veteran of our Lady Lex Live Aboard program here and his guys and gals are one of our frequent and favorite youth groups.”

“We just love the Lady Lex.” Tom said “It’s been an annual field trip for our Lions Leos Club at the high school for years now. And I know for a fact that our students are going to be absolutely thrilled to meet you all.”

“What we are going to do is have the Westside group meet in our theater once they’ve stowed their gear and we can bring both of you in and introduce you to the group.” Daniel instructed. “The theater is the only large area on board that we can lock down and have a private meeting in.”

“No problem.” Tom replied “I will hurry them up and get them in to the theater within 30 minutes. We have moved in and out of the Lady Lex so many times, 30 minutes will be more than enough time for us. It’s been a real pleasure meeting you all, but I need to go out and get my group ready to board now. See you all in the theater.”

Happy was pleased. He sensed that Tom was going to be a good person to work with. Daniel had personally vetted Tom. Daniel had also arranged that Tom vet all of his chaperones and sponsors with Happy while the teenagers were meeting with Tony and Pepper in the theater.

“You can wait in my office until 15:30 hours and then I will escort you to the theater and introduce you to the Westside group.” Daniel said as he handed each of them a schedule. “Here is the Westside schedule. Again, it’s not mandatory that you stick with the group, but after you meet the kids, I think you’ll want to hang out with them and their chaperones. They are a lot of fun and know almost as much about the Lady Lex as I do.” Daniel explained as he turned to lead them out of the Ship’s Store pausing momentarily to look back over his shoulder. “Thanks again Dorothy for opening the store up early.”

Pepper walked back to Dorothy and shook her hand. “Thanks Dorothy. And I intend to look up more information on Rosie the Riveter.”

“You do that.” Dorothy said as both Tony and Happy shook her hand in thanks also. “The Rosie museum is sorta in your neck of the woods, in Richmond, California, just north of Oakland.”

They slowly walked past the entrance and back to Daniel’s office. As the three of them sat in Daniel’s office, Tony showed Pepper the video and photos from the earlier meeting as they discussed the restoration plans. Happy sat across the table from them listening to his security team report in to him on the current status of security on board. Suddenly they all heard what sounded like a stampede outside the office. Happy quickly got up and walked out of Daniel’s office to see what was causing the noise and he saw kids of all shapes and sizes with everything from sleeping bags to backpacks and suitcases moving in a single file, but walking as fast as their legs would carry them towards the ‘Live Aboard Only’ hatch. Their adult chaperones were struggling to keep up with the excited kids. Happy didn’t know whether to be amused or scared senseless at the sight.

Happy knew that all volunteers working with children in the State of Texas had to pass background checks, but he knew just how easily background checks could be falsified. And even though the SI Security checks already run on them were more thorough, they too were not infallible. The only real advantage that SI Security had with this security assignment was secrecy. Not even the Lady Lex Board Members knew that Stark Industries was the new corporate sponsor until they literally sat down with Tony and Pepper at the luncheon table with them. Happy had made sure that the news crews who had covered the luncheon were told that immediately after the luncheon, Tony and Pepper were returning to California so they wouldn’t send any reporters back to the ship later.

Except for Daniel of course, no one else knew that Pepper and Tony were even going to be here today. But Tony Stark and Iron Man had enemies everywhere, and Pepper had unfortunately been gathering quite a few herself recently on the international corporate business level: After all Justin Hammer wasn’t the only SI competitor not happy with Pepper. On top of that, Happy was also concerned about violent reactions to Pepper who was now in a publicly disclosed relationship with Tony and at risk for a physical attack fueled by jealousy. So for the fourteenth time today, Happy asked himself just why it was that he had accepted Pepper’s promotion to the position of head of SI Security. Happy already knew the answer. In his ear bud, he began to hear reports coming in from his security team as the youth groups continued to board the ship. Happy listened intently to his men as they reported their status. Satisfied with their reports for the moment, he turned around and walked back into Daniel’s office.

He found Tony and Pepper just as he had left them: sitting side by side, shoulder to shoulder, heads down, intently discussing the hull restoration plans. All kidding aside, Happy knew that they made a good couple and a great team. And above all else they were close friends of Happy’s and now that they had become a couple, Happy had become even more protective of them. His duty to them as a friend and security director was the reason that he was here with them today.

Happy sat back down across from them at the table again as both Pepper and Tony looked up at him expectantly.

“That bad, huh?” Pepper said noting the look on Happy’s face.

“You know me.” Happy replied turning to look at each of them in turn. “I just don’t like crowds.”

“Is that like a clown phobia?” Tony said his eyes twinkling with humor. “’Cause I bet we can get you a couple of sessions with Dr. Phil to see if he can cure you of that. Hey, ow!”

Pepper had just elbowed Tony in ribs hard enough to get Tony to stop teasing Happy for a moment. “What’s really going on Happy?” she asked concern quite evident in her voice now.

“I’m going to call in some of the guys for close quarters body guard duty during the assembly and for the meals and movie time.” Happy began quietly “Even though all of the adults have passed a state ordered background check, given the large numbers of adults on board, statistically there are at least 12 adults here who don’t like either or both of you. And since you are now public with your romance, there are statistically at least 5 additional adults in this group that will harbor ill will towards you Pepper, for taking Iron Man ‘off the market’ so to speak.”

Pepper reached out her right hand and took Happy’s left one in hers. “We know the risks, Happy.” She said quietly. “We’re just glad that you are the one in charge of protecting us because we trust you, your instincts, and your decision making.” Pepper took Tony’s right hand in her left one and locked eyes with Tony briefly before continuing. “And Tony here promises to behave for the rest of the weekend, don’t you Tony?”

Tony looked at Pepper and grinned sheepishly. “You’re gonna need to define the word ‘behave’ for me.”

Pepper glared at him and it was clear to Happy that Tony now realized just how concerned she really was.

“OK, OK! Jeez Pepper, calm down will you!” he teased trying to lighten the mood as he tenderly squeezed her hand. “So what do you want us to do, Hogan?” Tony asked in a suddenly serious tone.

“Stay with your body guards at all times.” Happy started ticking the items off in his head and out loud one at a time. “No wondering off by yourselves. If you need some alone time together, then we can get a room set up away from everyone.”

“Happy!” Pepper exclaimed as Tony let go of her hand and draped his right arm around her waist.

“Yeah, Pepper doesn’t like it when other people can hear us.” Tony teased earning him another elbow jab, this one harder than the last. “Ow, hey! Watch the ribs, woman!”

“And lastly” Happy continued ignoring Tony’s indignant outburst “I really don’t like the idea of you two bunking with any of the others. We just can’t protect you well enough in those small rooms.”

“What about Fire Watch?” Tony suggested “Pepper and I can volunteer for it which means we don’t have to sleep in the bunks.”

“Agreed.” Pepper said quickly. “It’s not like we haven’t stayed up all night before together before.”

“God, I love it when you talk dirty to me, Ms. Potts!” Tony teased earning him a frown from both Happy and Pepper.

The door to Daniel’s office suddenly swung open and Daniel stepped through it quickly. “Ready to go meet your group?”

They followed Daniel through a large exhibit area and through the glass doors to the theater. Happy motioned for their group to stop and wait in the small lobby of the theater as Daniel continued walking into the theater. Happy then nodded to his team and the four SI Security men quickly walked into the theater to assume their positions at the back and sides of the theater. Happy, Tony, and Pepper could clearly hear Daniel’s voice in the ensuing silence.

“OK guys.” Daniel said. “Because you are one of the best groups in our Live Aboard program on the Lady Lex, you have been chosen to act as hosts for our special guests here today. I trust you all will show them the ropes here on the Lady Lex, take care of them like the good shipmates you are, and help make their stay onboard a pleasurable one.” A quiet rumble of conversation ensued and Daniel held up his hand quickly silencing the group.

Happy was immediately impressed with the group’s discipline.

“I am now proud to introduce you all to Ms. Pepper Potts and Mr. Tony Stark of Stark Industries, our new corporate sponsors for the Lady Lex.” Daniel finished as the group began applauding.

That was their cue and Tony and Pepper followed by Happy walked down the short ramp leading to the front of the theater to stand next to Daniel still hand in hand with one another. They both smiled and waved to the group. Happy positioned himself at the top of the ramp where he was able to watch both the lobby and the goings on inside the theater.

The lights inside the theater were all turned on, fully illuminating the inside of the theater. Happy did a quick head count: 32 students, 9 chaperones and sponsors, and Tom. Just as promised. After introductions, the plan was for Daniel to moderate a Q&A between the students and Tony and Pepper while Tom and Happy vetted the chaperones and sponsors.

“Hi guys.” Pepper started “Thank you for allowing us to join your group for the weekend! Tony and I are very happy to be here with you today.” The group then applauded loudly for her, but quickly quieted waiting for Tony to speak.

“Daniel has told us that you all know a lot about the Lady Lex and Pepper and I would appreciate your help in getting to know the Lady Lex a little better ourselves.” Tony said as he gently tugged on Pepper’s hand. “But first we’d like to take a few minutes to get to know you better. So Daniel here is going to help us with a Question and Answer session.”

“If you have a question for Pepper and Tony raise your hands and when you’re called on you can ask your question.” Daniel said as he looked at Tom and nodded. “But before we begin, will the chaperones and sponsors please follow Tom outside for a short visit with Hap Hogan who is the Stark Industries Security director? He has a few routine questions for you. Thanks.” Daniel turned to look at the students again as the adults all got up to leave and recognized one of the students with her hand raised. “Caroline, your question please.”

Happy nodded at Tom as the group of adults approached him. “Let’s all step outside for a few minutes please.” Happy said as he turned to lead the group out of the theater and into the small lobby area.

Happy turned to face the group and spoke to them quietly. “As Daniel mentioned, my name is Hap Hogan and I am responsible for personal security for both Ms. Potts and Mr. Stark. I am going to ask you each some questions one on one.” Happy pulled out his SI Smart Pad and began to pull up data sheets on the adults. “We are going to go in alphabetical order…Mr. Abbott sir, you are first. Please step over to the desk with me. And Tom if you could come too, sir, I would appreciate it very much.”

Hap had years of experience doing this sort of work. Using both his instincts and SI tech, Happy was able to quickly ascertain any security threat. So with Tom vetting the identity of each person and Hap asking a few specific questions of each person, Hap was quickly able to confirm that none of the adults in the group posed any type of security threat to either Pepper, Tony or to SI security. It took Happy less than 30 minutes to finish up with the group.

“Thank you all for your assistance.” Happy told the group “I really appreciate your cooperation and your time.”

“So I’ll go ahead and ask what every one here is probably wondering.” Tom asked Happy with a smile. “Why is it that Iron Man needs protection?”

Happy smiled tightly back at Tom. That was such a predictable question. “Iron Man doesn’t, but Tony Stark and Pepper Potts do need protection. That’s my job. And working with good people like youselves is always a genuine pleasure. So thank you again for your help.” Happy answered honestly. As he motioned the group back into the theater, Happy wished silently that the rest of the adults on board could be vetted this easily. Even after vetting the adults of the group he still felt unsettled as if he was forgetting something important. He checked the time on his watch for the umpteenth time today and quickly counted up the hours before they would be leaving the Lexington.

As they re-entered the theater, Happy found Pepper standing to one side of Daniel and completely surrounded by 15 teenaged girls and Tony sitting on one of the theater seats backwards in front of 17 teenaged boys. Both Tony and Pepper were speaking to their respective groups as the teenagers were listening in rapt attention. Happy knew that both of them absolutely loved kids, all types and sizes. In Happy’s mind Tony was a lot like Peter Pan so he was always able to relate to any child quite easily. And of course kids of all ages were just naturally attracted to Pepper because of her kind and patient nature, and her natural willingness to help anyone.

“OK everyone.” Daniel said loudly getting everyone’s attention immediately “We are going to head down to the galley for dinner now. After dinner you are on your own until movie time.”

The group stood up and followed Daniel out of the theater. Happy caught up to Daniel and quietly informed him that Tony and Pepper were going to be on fire watch with their group tonight. Daniel agreed that it was a good idea and that he would assist Happy in coming up with group lists since he already knew many of the teens. Happy of course appreciated the help.

At the hatch leading down to the galley, Daniel motioned Happy over to him. “Hap” he started “I know that the chow here isn’t exactly what you would call ‘filling’, so I took the liberty in ordering your security team some specialty pizzas from a local pizzeria.” He continued as Happy nodded his approval. “And I have also ordered extra pizzas for fire watch tonight as a treat for the kids as well as our staff and your security folks. I hope you don’t mind.”

“Thanks, Daniel.” Happy said sincerely, his stomach grumbling at the thought of pizza; after all it had been over six hours since lunch. “And no, I don’t mind at all. I really appreciate you taking care of my guys.”

The chow line was long as Happy killed time by reading some of the historical wartime posters from World War 2 mounted to the corridor walls as he waited at the back of the slow moving line. Daniel had arranged that the Cub Scout troop was first in line with the Westside group next. All the youth groups on board had to eat in shifts, just like the real navy and Daniel had wanted the Westside group included in the first shift. In the crowded rush to get to the galley, Tony and Pepper had somehow managed to end up next to each other in line which didn’t surprise Happy in the slightest. Pepper was ahead of Tony in line and her frequent and cutting glances at Tony meant only one thing: Tony was, not surprisingly, misbehaving, no doubt offering Pepper his own smart assed interpretations of the WWII era motivational posters as they walked past each one.

The sign board at the entrance to the galley clearly set out the menu for tonight’s dinner: Sloppy Joe sandwiches and tator tots. Happy smiled to himself. Pepper had often prepared sloppy Joe sandwiches for him and Tony, and no doubt Tony would be comparing Pepper’s version of the sandwich to the one being served here as they ate. Happy had to hand it to Pepper: she made one of the best Sloppy Joe sandwiches Happy had ever eaten. So no matter just how good the Lady Lex’s version would be, it was definitely coming in second to Pepper’s sloppy Joe. The server took one look at Happy and quickly placed three sloppy Joe sandwiches on his tray. Happy nodded his thanks to the man who grinned back at him.

Everyone sat down and waited on Daniel before eating. Daniel told them all the history of the mess hall they were in and how the tables had been used here to treat the wounded from one of the numerous battles that the Lady Lex had been involved in. Daniel then asked that everyone remove their hats as a sign of respect for the dead and injured treated in this room and everyone, even Tony, complied.

Even though the mood in the room started out somewhat reserved, the Cub Scouts and the Westside students soon had the room enveloped in a loud buzz of conversation. Pepper and Tony figured prominently into everyone’s conversation as the Cub Scouts did their best to dominate Tony and Pepper’s meal time asking for autographs. Happy had to hand it to the Westside students as they ran interference for Tony and Pepper and somehow managed to keep Tony and Pepper from being overrun which allowed them to at least eat their dinner. They cushioned Tony as well as Pepper from the quite obvious Iron Man fans while allowing the Cub Scouts enough access to the two of them that satisfied both the Cub Scouts and their adult sponsors and chaperones. Happy smiled as he watched, realizing why it was that Daniel had insisted that Tony and Pepper stay with the Westside group. For the first time all day, Happy felt a little more comfortable about Tony and Pepper’s crowd exposure on this trip. But this feeling of comfort came to an abrupt end when the Westside group gleefully announced that they were going to take Tony and Pepper on a ‘private’ tour of the Lady Lex right after dinner.

The Lady Lex had six different zones that were called ‘tours’, each of them showcasing a certain area or functionality of the ship interspersed with a number informational historical exhibits, some of them hands on. Each of the tour routes led up or down ships ladders and through multiple hatches. Some of the areas had reduced or low clearances. One of the ‘rules’ aboard the Lady Lex was that if a staff member saw you with your hands in your pockets, you immediately had to drop down and do 10 military style push ups as ‘punishment’ for the infraction. The reasoning behind this rule was simple: the design of the ship with its plate flooring, hatchways, and ship ladders made the Lady Lex one giant trip hazard. And if your hands were in your pockets, then you couldn’t catch yourself when you stumbled and fell.

Tony and Pepper were in the middle of their group heading toward ‘Tour 1’ of the ship when Matt rounded a corner and came face to face with Tony, who had somehow managed to have not one but both of his hands in his pockets. Happy saw the beginnings of a confrontation between the two of them considering Tony’s poorly disguised jealousy over Pepper with Matt earlier in the day. But Tony surprised everyone, including Happy by immediately dropping down to the floor and quickly doing 10 military style push ups. Matt nodded politely at him and then continued on this way.

Happy caught Pepper’s eye and shared a smile with her over Tony’s obediance. Tony had promised both Happy and Pepper that he would behave, and he was actually managing to do just that, amazing though it seemed. But Happy knew Tony well enough to know that Tony could never behave for very long without slipping up. So it was only a matter of time before Tony did something outrageous enough to get him in trouble.

The Westside group paused at the Entrance of Tour 1 and the leaders of the group, Caroline for the girls and Thomas for the guys made an executive decision that the group needed to split up with the girls going on Tour 1 and the boys starting on Tour 4. They all agreed to meet back up at the theater for the movie in one hour. 

Happy sent Jonesey and two of his best men with Pepper, ignoring her rolling her eyes at him in disapproval. He also pretended not to notice how Tony discretely pulled Pepper to the side away from the view of most of the group and quickly kissed her soundly on the lips. It was always amusing to Happy when Tony tried to be discrete, after all Tony was the master of indiscretion. And Pepper who had of course had mastered the art of discretion, was somehow able to gracefully take him by the hand and pull away from him so quickly that their kiss could be viewed as an almost a plausible denial blur of action. Happy shook his head in amusement as two of the girls who had obviously been witnesses to the kiss giggled in unison and proceeded to take Pepper hand in hand to lead her towards the tour entrance and away from Tony.

Tony stared at Pepper’s back as she vanished behind a hatch way.

“OK Boss” Happy teased as the boys quickly walked away to the entrance for Tour 4 “pull your heartstrings up off the ground and let’s catch up to our group.”

Tony turned to Happy and glared at him. He opened his mouth to say something, but closed it quickly. Happy chuckled at him as he followed Tony into the entrance. 

“Am I really that obvious, Hap?” Tony asked quietly as they rounded a corner in the hall way beyond the hatch.

“Yep.” Happy answered sparing a glance at Tony’s face. With so many years together Happy could read Tony’s moods almost as well as Pepper did. Happy knew that since the alien invasion of New York, Tony had been putting himself out there for Pepper trying to show as best as Tony could being Tony, just how much he cared about…correct that….loved Pepper. Tony’s playboy days were now gone forever and Happy knew that no matter what the tabloid trash said, Tony Stark was now very much a monogamous male who had found his mate in life.

And Happy also knew without a doubt that Pepper loved Tony too. But Happy also knew Pepper well enough to know that she wanted to take the growth in her and Tony’s relationship at a much slower pace than Tony wanted. And now Tony had somehow managed read into Pepper’s hesitation to move at Tony’s breakneck romance speed that she really didn’t want to get married to him, which Happy knew wasn’t the case at all. Happy loved both of them like family but watching the two of them circle each other for the past nine months was almost too much to take.

Some days he really did feel like tying both of them up, duct taping their mouths closed, throwing both of them in the back seat of the Bentley, and then driving them down to the Malibu JP court where he would force them to get married knowing that’s what would be best for both of them. At the luncheon today Happy had been very pleased when the two of them had decided to make their relationship public. That had been a big step in the right direction in his opinion.

But then Tony used Mr. Hopkins’s last name introduction mistake as a springboard for an impromptu proposal immediately putting Pepper in a very awkward situation which of course resulted in the expected Pepper Potts refusal, albeit in a teasing way. Happy knew that deep down Pepper still had reservations about Tony’s sincerity about their romantic relationship given their long and tumultuous history together. And Happy also knew that Tony was well intended and that he would ever not give up on asking her to marry him. But Tony’s determination did have lapses of confidence within it. And at this moment Happy knew that Tony was in the middle of such a lapse of confidence.

“Pepper knows that you mean well. But popping the question to her at lunch today was just a little over the top, Boss.” Happy told him sincerely. He paused looking over at Tony to assess his mood. Tony’s face was quite serious now as he listened to him. “You know she’s got a ton on her plate at the moment with SI, the government, and the attorneys all on her case 24X7.” Happy continued quietly. “You just need to keep giving her the support she needs and really talk to her this weekend. Find out what you can do to help lighten her load. I know that she would really appreciate that.” Happy said confidently. “Oh and the next time you propose to her make sure you do it in private. It keeps the pressure off of both of you that way.”

“Yeah I guess asking her to marry me because of a screwed up introduction wasn’t the smartest thing I’ve ever done.” Tony admitted quietly.

“No it wasn’t.” Happy replied with a small smile. “But it wasn’t the dumbest thing you’ve ever done either.” Happy teased.

Tony stopped and turned to Happy a small smile growing on Tony’s face now. “Are you talking about the time I….” He began immediately being cut off by Thomas the leader of the Westside boys walking swiftly back towards them.

“Let’s go Mr. Stark.” Thomas said excitedly “We are going to show you Engineering first!”

As their ‘tour’ of engineering progressed, Tony and Happy were eventually left behind by the excited teens who had no doubt seen the exhibits numerous times already and were obviously more interested in talking about video games and girls than entertaining the two of them.

As he and Tony rounded a corner which opened up into an exhibit area Happy noticed a picture on the wall that bore a striking resemblance to Tony. “Hey Boss, this could be your brother.” He remarked pointed at the photograph.

“What?” Tony asked turning from another engineering exhibit and walking over to join Happy in looking at the photograph.

“Says here this McDonald fellow saved the Lady Lex by designing an auxiliary helm control in engineering and that his invention saved the Lady Lex when they were torpedoed and lost their control tower.” Happy remarked to Tony.

“Huh.” Tony replied reading the notes from the exhibit. “McDonald’s invention went on to become a standard installation on all US ships built after that. Cool.”  
Tony was silent for a few seconds as he studied the photograph of Commander McDonald. “He does look a little like me doesn’t he.” he concluded with a smirk. “But not nearly as handsome, though.”

Happy rolled his eyes at Tony’s remark as they both walked out of the room and down the hall towards the engine room.

As they walked into the large room Happy pulled in a quick breath at the sheer size of the room. As the smell of burnt wire registered in his brain he realized that this odor was very similar to the odor that was frequently found in Tony’s workshop. And even though Happy hated to admit it, this smell was somewhat comforting to him.

Tony immediately hopped over a railing and quickly climbed down along a power cable tray. “This is so cool.” He told Happy as he pulled out his cell phone and began to take pictures.

“Hey boss” Happy started concerned that Tony was rapidly descending down a rack which he noticed actually began to move under Tony’s weight. “I don’t think you need to be down there.”

“It’s OK, big guy.” A voice behind Happy called out. “The Commander knows what he’s doing.”

Happy turned to find a man dressed in sailor blues had walked up behind him as he stood peering over the railing at Tony. The man’s youth was evident to Happy as was his blond hair tucked under the sailor cap and his piercing blue eyes. Happy looked down to see a somewhat faded ‘Smith’ name patch on his shirt. Happy knew that the Lexington employees were trained to present a certain amount of naval ‘atmosphere’ to their guests aboard the ship. But the fact that he called Tony ‘Commander’ was a little weird though. Hearing Tony laugh, both of them turned at once to look down and watch as Tony moved even further down and underneath a large piece of equipment. Happy unconsciously felt himself grip the railing even harder as Tony disappeared from view.

Happy spared a quick glance over to the man next to him and could have sworn that for a second he could see right through him. Happy closed his eyes briefly and quickly reached up to rub at his temple with his right hand. This assignment must be really getting to him if he is starting to see things.

“Tough day, big guy?” the young man asked him a crooked smile growing on his baby face.

Happy shook his head in the affirmative as he one again looked down and watched with relief as Tony began to climb back up the cable rack and then gracefully vaulted over the guardrail landing on the deck next to him.

Tony then peered around Happy to look at the younger man. “Just couldn’t resist checking that out.” He began to explain as he stepped around Happy to stand in front of the young man.

“Sure thing, chief. No problem.” The young man replied with a smile that had Tony smiling back at him.

Happy watched as relief spread over Tony’s face. Happy shook his head at him and Tony shrugged his shoulders back at him. Tony was trying his best to look innocent and Happy frowned back at him.

Tony smiled broadly at Happy and then turned to look down at the worn uniform that the younger man was wearing to find a name. “So…..”

“Charlie.” The young man supplied with a smile.

“So Charlie” Tony began “Are you part of the maintenance crew?”

Charlie’s eyes lit up in surprise and he reached up to scratch his head through his cap. “Why …yes, Commander. Don’t you remember me?”

Confusion passed swiftly across Tony’s face. “Yeah, sure Charlie.” Tony replied looking at the rank stripes on his uniform.

Charlie’s face immediately lit up in another smile. “Say Chief, did you get married to that nurse at Pearl that you were dating?”

“Nurse?” Tony asked cautiously cutting his eyes over to Happy in a silent plea for help.

Happy quickly thought back to the last time they were in Hawaii which was pre-Afghanistan but could not remember a nurse becoming involved with Tony during that trip or any others before that. But then again Tony’s one night stand’s occupations rarely came up in conversations during Tony’s trolling for bootie expeditions back then.

“You know, the redhead, Commander.” Charlie explained with a grin. “The one that had legs up to here!” he added moving his right hand up to his chin to indicate just how long the woman’s legs appeared to be.

Happy watched as Tony’s eyes grew slightly wider. Charlie seemed to be describing Pepper now.

“Nope, Charlie.” Tony replied shaking his head slowly “We are still just dating.”

“Don’t give up, Chief.” Charlie replied with a wink and a nod of his head. “That’s a real beaut of a dame you got there.”

Happy’s head snapped quickly away from Tony to Charlie with that phrase. Mac had told him the very same thing about Pepper earlier. Happy was becoming a little concerned with Charlie’s line of questioning now and he mentally started to review the list of Lexington volunteers that were scheduled to be on duty this weekend but he couldn’t remember a ‘Charlie or even a Charles Smith’ being on the list. But Smith was a common name and ‘Charlie’ could also be a nickname.

“Well if you will excuse me Chief, I gotta get back to my duties. Rust never sleeps ya know.” Charlie announced abruptly turning away from them and quickly walking down the gangway almost disappearing behind one of the large engines.

“Here you are! We’ve been looking all over for you two! Sorry about ditching you. I didn’t realize that you never made it out of the engine room.” Thomas called out to them out of breath as he ran into the engine room. “The movie starts in 5 minutes and we need to get over to the theater ASAP!”

Happy made a mental note to have Jonesey look up Charlie later in the evening and question him further and he began to jog behind Tony and Thomas.

They had to run most of the way but managed to make it into the theater with one minute to spare. Happy was hoping that no one noticed just how out of breath he was as he looked up into the seating area. To add insult to injury, his knee was starting to hurt again. Tony then motioned for him to hurry as they walked up the steps to the back of the theater. Happy quickly spotted Pepper sitting near the aisle with a vacant seat on the aisle next to her and a vacant seat behind her. Happy’s lead security guy, Jonesey was standing next to the row in which she was seated and Happy nodded to him as Tony quickly took the seat next to Pepper and Happy sat down behind the couple. Jonesey immediately walked down the steps towards the front of the theater.

“Did you boys have fun?” Pepper teased both of them in a low voice.

“Actually several tons worth of fun, babe.” Tony replied leaning in close to her as he wrapped his left arm around her shoulders. “Wanna see the pictures?”

Pepper turned to look at Happy and smiled at him. “Maybe later, the movie is about to start.”

Happy reached out to poke his right index finger into Tony’s tricep. “Please try to behave during the movie.” He whispered as he leaned forward slightly.

“Sure thing, mom.” Tony replied with a smirk looking over his shoulder at Happy. He then pulled Pepper even closer into him and then whispered something into her ear which Happy of course would not be able to hear causing Pepper to quietly giggle and Tony to cut his eyes back at Happy. Happy frowned back at him.

Happy quickly got back to business and quietly spoke into his mic asking Jonesey to check out both Charlie and Mac further and verify their security clearances.

About five minutes into the 30 minute movie about aircraft carriers, Happy started to feel his eyelids droop. He knew that with SI security both inside and outside the theater, he could now let his own guard down….just long enough for a quick power nap. After all it was going to be a long night on fire watch.

The applause immediately woke him up and he shifted his body to sit up straight in his seat at the same time reaching up to place his right index finger into his right ear out of habit to make sure that his earpiece was still in position. It was. Tony was already standing up and he was in the process of pulling Pepper to her feet.

“Enjoy your nap?” Tony teased him looking down at him as reached out to gently pull Pepper into his side.

“I was not asleep.” Happy defended himself standing up and reaching down to straighten his now wrinkled shirt.

“Sure you weren’t.” Tony told him with a smirk as Pepper looked up at him and then reached out with her left hand to finish straightening Happy’s collar for him.

“Five minutes until ghost stories!” Caroline excitedly noted walking up the steps to join them, Thomas right on her heels. “Let’s get aft to the anchor room and get good seats before the place fills up.”

“OK!” Pepper replied with a smile for the happy teenagers. “Let’s go!”

The hair on the back of Happy’s neck started to rise at the mention of ghost stories. He quickly tamped his growing dread down as he leaned his head down slightly. “Moving to the anchor room now.” He called into his mic as he fell in step behind Tony, Pepper, Caroline, and Thomas as they walked down the theater steps and out into the lobby on their way to the anchor room.

Tony and Pepper positioned themselves cross-legged on the floor of the anchor room surrounded by the Westside group as the Cub Scouts, Girl Scouts, and Eagle Scouts began to swarm excitedly into the room quickly filling up the available floor space. Their chaperones began to fill in between the members of their groups with some of them standing around the walls of the room. Happy had positioned himself at one of the back corners of the room on one of the elevated walk ways where he had a clear view of the entire room. Four other SI security including Jonesey had also stationed themselves around the huge room so they too had a clear view of the room. Suddenly the lights around them began to turn off one by one leaving the huge room bathed in an eerie blue light. Daniel then walked into the room to stand in front of the group and signaled for quiet as the now subdued conversations within the room immediately ceased. Happy could now physically feel the expectant tension in the room. The hair on the back of Happy’s neck once again rose in response to his unnerved response and Happy was suddenly glad for the dim lighting in the room in the hopes that no one would be able to see his unease.

Happy then braced himself as Daniel began telling the assembled group in the anchor room the first of several stories about the history of the Lexington and just how the ship had become ‘The Blue Ghost’. Against his will, Happy found himself dividing his attention between Daniel’s captivating story telling and his security ear bud’s steady streaming of security status from his security team positioned around the rest of the ship. The second and third story tellers were more into the theatrical techniques including various sound effects which SI Security had been briefed on beforehand at Happy’s insistence. It would have been somewhat of a public relations nightmare if SI Security throttled someone in the Lexington’s crew over an unexpected sound.

After the last story was told to the hushed, engrossed crowd, Daniel stepped back in front of the room as all the lights in the room began to turn on once again. After asking for applause for the two story tellers as he called them back up to the front one at a time, he then silenced the crowd once again. “Fire Watch will report to the main deck meeting room at 21:30. The rest of you are dismissed to prepare for ‘Taps’ which will sound at 22:00. That is all. Carry on.”

The Scout leaders immediately stood up and called out for their groups to gather together before their walk back to their berthing areas to prepare for lights out. It was orderly chaos as the room slowly began to clear and Happy suddenly found himself breathing out a sigh of relief that he didn’t really realize he had been holding.

Caroline and Thomas as well as 6 other seniors from Westside along with 8 of the Eagle Scouts were designated as the Fire Watch team for the night. Tony and Pepper were included in the count bringing the total of 18 which would then be split into three groups of six for rotation for patrols within the huge ship from 10:00 PM until 5:00 AM. At Happy’s request Jonesey, had already vetted the Eagle Scouts who would then be integrated within the Westside seniors.

Tony’s body language around Pepper on the slow walk to the meeting room on the main deck confirmed to Happy that Tony would not agree to be separated from her for the remainder of the night. But knowing Tony so well, Happy had already given approval to the fire watch group team selections which included both Tony and Pepper within one of the groups which would also consist of both Caroline and Thomas as well as two of the Eagle Scouts, Prescott and Scott. He would accompany Tony and Pepper’s group as would two other SI Security men.

Happy had Willis and Tusk from SI waiting for them in the meeting room when they arrived. A coffee maker with an almost full pot of coffee under it still gurgling was sitting on a countertop near the door with a stack of white cups next to it.

Happy knew that Pepper would appreciate the coffee. And knowing Tony’s late night work habits Happy had brought some Red Bulls along with two large bags of Skittles. He had them sitting in a small ice chest on the counter further down from the coffee pot.

Prescott and Scott walked into the door along with Daniel followed by the rest of the seniors. Four Lexington employees then entered the room as Daniel acknowledged them and then called for quiet in the room.

Daniel quickly briefed the group on their team assignments using a schematic of the Lady Lex as a reference. He went over the rules for night watch and gave each team leader a walkie-talkie to use in case of an emergency. 

Suddenly over the room’s wall mounted speakers, Taps could be heard in the now silent meeting room. 

Once Taps had concluded Daniel smiled warmly at the group. “My crew will remain here in the meeting room during the night if you need any assistance. But considering the caliber of the group here this evening, I would say that the Lady Lex is very capable hands for the night. Carry on.”

And with Daniel’s parting words the groups filed out of the room. Tony immediately reached for Pepper’s hand as their group headed for their assigned patrol at Tour 2.

By 5:00 AM the coffee, soda, pizza, Red Bull, and Skittles had run out and Happy was for the first time during this trip actually ‘happy’ because he knew that the ‘tough’ part of this assignment was almost behind him. He did his best to stifle a yawn as he looked around the meeting room once more. The four Lexington crew members had already left to finish fire watch for the remaining one hour until Reveille. The teens had returned to their bunks for their one hour of sleep.

Tony and Pepper were laying together on the old couch in the main meeting room both of them sound asleep. Tony was of course being possessive of her even in his sleep as he crowded her into the back of the couch his arms and legs entwined with hers. But amazingly Pepper deep in her own slumbers didn’t seem to mind at all. The expression on her face was one Happy could only describe as contentment. And the part of Tony’s face that was still visible as he pressed into her hair looked relaxed and at peace. There was no doubt that the two of them were made for each other. Happy had figured this out the first time he saw the two of them together over 12 years ago. He made a mental note to increase his efforts once again to get them to officially tie the knot starting on the trip home later today.

Leaving Tony and Pepper asleep under the watchful eyes of Willis and Tusk, Happy walked out of the meeting room and stretched his arms above his head tiredly. He could feel the pull of sleep heavy on his body as he walked out towards the hatchway leading to the flight deck.

The pre-dawn darkness and cool breeze greeted him as he stepped out onto the concrete flight deck. The lights of Corpus Christi were now glowing dimly as the fog rolled in from the gulf onto the shore. Happy walked out to the rail and looked out towards the east seeing only dark seas before him. There was no moon in the sky and the stars were now glowing faintly through the early morning fog. And as the stillness of the pre-dawn morning slowly began to creep into Happy’s body, he found himself starting to relax for the first time since they had arrived…..yesterday. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath of the salty humid air which seemed to calm him even further.

“I myself like a moonless night.” A voice from his right side spoke making Happy’s eyes snap open and his hands suddenly grip the railing tightly at the sound of the unexpected voice.

Happy turned to look at his new companion. He was a tall, slender man with a naval officers cap perched on his head and his focus eastward across the dark waves. Happy judged his age to be somewhere in the mid 40’s. He was obviously one of the Lexington volunteers on hand to help with the early morning activities on the ship.

“There’s both solitude and safety within the arms of the fog queen.” The man continued still looking out over the water as if deep in thought. “And on a ship this size, it’s good to be alone sometimes.”

That feeling Happy could definitely relate to. “I know what you mean.” He told the man once again turning to focus on the dark waves as the fog continued to roll in to shore. Happy noticed that the fog was quickly growing thicker and would no doubt envelope the Lady Lex too before the sun rose. The wind was also picking up and the occasional wind gusts were growing stronger.

A minute of comfortable silence passed between the two of them. “It must have been really something to have been on the Lady Lex when she was out at sea.” Happy noted.

“Oh it’s special alright.” The man answered him with such conviction in his words that Happy had to turn to face the man once again.

“I’m Hap Hogan.” Happy told the man, ready to shake his hand but the man did not move from his spot along the rail.

“Tom Montgomery.” He answered back with a brisk nod still looking out to sea.

Happy turned back once again to look out over the water. “How long have you worked aboard the Lexington, Tom?” Happy asked glancing quickly at the other man.

“Since September, ’43.” Tom replied quietly.

Surprised at Tom’s answer, Happy was sure that the wind and waves had somehow garbled Tom’s words. There was no way that the man standing next to him was in his 90’s or even older. He quickly glanced over again at his companion. Even though it was still quite dark Happy began to notice that the wind’s gusts seem to have no effect on Tom or his clothes. Happy swallowed hard as the hair on the back of his neck began to stand up and his gaze was now transfixed on Tom.

“Ya know” Tom began as he turned away from the rail to face Happy. “when you come to know and face your fear, then the fear disappears.” Tom told him with a sad smile. “So now here you are facing your fear in the line of duty, just like me and my shipmates did. We overcame our fears because we had a job to do and we died doing it. We didn’t move on because of our loyalty and duty to the Lady Lex. So here we remain. And now that you have faced your fear Mr. Hogan, it’s high time you got back to your duties, mister.”

The realization of what was happening to him kept him rooted to the spot as Tom’s words began to unravel in Happy’s head. Tom was right. It was high time that he overcame his childhood fear of ghosts. It was now quite clear to him why it was that Jonesey couldn’t find any information on Mac or Charlie. Jonesey had been looking for a living person and not the war dead from WWII. Suddenly Mac and Charlie’s actions and speech made sense to him. Happy slowly smiled back at Tom who nodded his head back to him in mutual understanding.

”You’re right, Tom. And thanks.” He replied reaching out his hand out of habit to thank him and then quickly dropping his hand to his side realizing that Tom would not be able to shake it.

Tom looked down and watched as Happy dropped his hand and smiled once more at him but this time it was a brighter smile. “’Til we meet again, fair winds and following seas to you, mate.”

And with those words Tom slowly disappeared into the dense fog which now rolled on to the flight deck of the Lady Lex in silent gray waves.

“Hap?” Jonesey called out to him as he walked briskly through the fog onto the flight deck to join Happy at the ship’s rail. “I heard voices. You talking to someone?”

Happy thought for a second before he answered. “You must be hearing things Jonesey.” Happy told him as Jonesey walked up to stand next to him and turned his head to look out to sea with him. For the first time since they had come aboard the Lady Lex, Happy felt at ease and at peace with the history of the ship and its crew. “Just me and my thoughts out here watching the fog roll in.”

“I still can’t find anything on Mac and Charlie, boss.” Jonesey reported turning away from the ocean to look once again at Happy.

“They posed no real threat and we haven’t seen them on board the ship since. Just note the discrepancy in our log and I will sign off on it.” Happy replied, turning to look out to sea once more. “Now let’s get back inside before we get soaked. The fog is really coming down now.”

“OK, boss.” Jonesey replied with a broad smile “I’m on coffee duty this morning and I got a fresh pot waiting for you.”

“Duty calls then.” Happy noted turning to join Jonesey as they quickly walked back inside the ship.


End file.
